Rivet setting machine with fast snap-action rivet release mechanism



Dec. 25, 1951 'r. J. DOYLE RIVET SETTING MACHINE WITH FAST SNAP-ACTION RIVET RELEASE MECHANISM Filed July 13, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 w v 73 j v I .1 -WIINII "I l in 2 75 5 66 F 68. I I 2a 28 Inn Illll! IN VEN TOR.

926 14 YLMQQL-LLL A TTORNEP Dec. 25, 195] T, DOYLE 2,580,160 I RIVET SETTING MACHINE WITH FAST SNAP-ACTION RIVET RELEASE MECHANISM Filed July 13 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 IN VEN TOR.

75007 4; Da /e ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 25, 1951 RIVET SETTING MACHINE WITH FAST- SNAP-ACTION RIVET RELEASE MECH- ANISM Thomas J. Doyle, South Braintree, Mass, assignor to Tubular Rivet and Stud Company, Quincy, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 13, 1948, Serial No. 38,432

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a rivet setting machine and more particularly to a pivot feeding device for a rivet setting machine.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel and improved rivet setting machine having a rivet feeding device arranged to release successive rivets into alignment with the rivet setting elements at a predetermined time in a cycle of operation and which is characterized by novel structure for effecting adjustment of the rivet feeding mechanism to vary the time of release of a rivet for'most efficient operation;

With this general object in view, and such others as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the rivet setting machine and in the various structures, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a rivet setting machine embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a detail view of an eccentric adjusting stud to be referred to; and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an escapement mechanism, to be referred to, as viewed from the line 4-4of Fig.2.

In general, the present invention contemplatesa novel rivet setting machine of the type having a reciprocal driver and a cooperating anvil for performing the rivet setting operation and in which provision is made for supporting a rivet in a holder in vertical alignment with the driver, and for releasing successive rivets from a guideway or feed chute into the holder in timed relation to the operation .of the riveting mechanism and preferably at a time when the driver approaches its point of maximum elevation at the end of a rivet setting cycle so as to provide a rivet in operative alignment with the driver for a succeeding cycle of operation. I

In the operation of the machine, the holder is normally maintained in alignment with the feed chute to receive a rivet released therefrom and is arranged to move down with the driver until the rivet engages the anvil whereupon therivet is forced through the holder and into the work. The holder remains in frictional engagement with the driver during the rivet setting operation and is returned therewith to come to rest in alignment with the feed chute upon retraction or elevation of the driver, the driver continuing upwardly away from the holder to permit a succeeding rivet to be received in the holder,

l to permit a released rivet to enter.

The operating connections for effecting release of a rivet are preferably arranged to be actuated as the driver nears the end of its upward stroke, and, prior to the present invention, no provision was made for adjusting the operating connections, the predetermined time of release being dependent upon the accuracy with which the assembled rivet releasing elements have been manufactured.

In the event that the rivet releasing elements varied from a predetermined standard, a rivet might be prematurely released before the holder was returned into alignment with the feed chute, or before the driver was elevated out of the way Thus, in practice, minimum tolerances had to be maintained during the manufacture of the various parts of the rivet releasing elements and their operating connections and considerable time employed in fitting the parts during assembly to effect release'of a rivet at a predetermined time in the cycle of operation.

In accordance with the present invention, provision is made for adjusting the cooperating elements which effect release of the rivets, in a simple and convenient manner, whereby to assure release of the rivets at a predetermined time in the riveting cycle for most efficient operation.

Referring now to the drawings, the present invention is illustrated as embodied in a rivetsetting machine of the type having a reciprocal driver 18 arranged to cooperate with an anvil l2 to perform the riveting operation in the work to be assembled, which work may be manuall supported on the anvil by the operator. The driver It, as herein shown is slidingly supported in a bearing member l5 forming part of a bracket It and is arranged to be reciprocated by any usual or preferred driving mechanism such as a one revolution crank, not shown, and through connections including a link It connected to one arm it of a two-armed lever pivotally mounted at 29 in the bracket M. The other arm 22 of the lever is connected by slotted links 24 to the upper end of the driver Hi, as shown in Fig. 2.

The rivet to be set is supported in alignment with the driver by a yieldably mounted separable holder 26 comprising two opposed half sections shaped to form a socket in which the rivet is 'disposed in an upright position with the head uppermost as shown in Fig. 2. The half sections are supported by opposed flexible straps 28' depending from a hub member 38 slidingly fitted about the body of the driver if! and movable therewith during the descent of the driver when the latter engages the head of the rivet supported therein. The rivet holder is normally held in its elevated poistion, as shown, by a spring 32 connected between the hub member 3% and a driver link 24 and, is limited in its upward movement by engagement of the upper end of the sliding hub with the lower end of the bearing member 5. In operation, the holder 26 is arranged to move with the driver for a part of the downward stroke until the end of the rivet engages the anvil, the holder being limited in its descent by an adjustable stop screw 38 carried by an extension 38 attached to the hub member 30, and the stop screw being arranged to engage a stud 43 fast in the bearing member l5 and extended through a slotted portion 42 of the extension 38. In its elevated position, the holder 2 6 is supported in alignment with a feed chute or guideway 44 from which the rivets are successively released each cycle of operation to be guided into the holder.

In the operation of the riveting machine, when the driver descends it engages the head of the rivet in the holder 25 causing descent of the holder along with the driver in until the move ment of the holder is interrupted by the stop screw 35, whereupon the rivet is forced through the holder and into the work to be riveted during the continued descent of the driver to perform the rivet setting operation. The half sections of the holder are caused to spread apart when the rivet is forced through the holder, by the flexible straps 28, and, during the continued descent of the driver, the holder remains in frictional engagement with the body of the driver. Upon elevation of the driver the holder 26 is returned to its elevated position in alignment with the feed chute 44 to receive a succeeding rivet released therefrom.

As herein shown, the feed chute 44 forms a reservoir for the rivets supplied thereto by a rivet orienting and feeding device, indicated generally at 46, and the rivets in the feed chute are released successively by an escapement mecha nism, indicated generally at 48 and arranged to release one rivet each cycle of operation through operating connections, indicated generally at 50, designed to effect release of a rivet into the holder 25 during the return stroke of the driver It), as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The rivet orienting and feeding device 46 is of known construction and, in general, comprises a hollow cone shaped hopper 5| arranged to be intermittently rotated by a pawl and ratchet mechanism, indicated generally at 53, the rotatable member being arranged to cooperate with a stationary end member and from which the rivets are fed into the feed chute 44 in a single file as shown in Fig. 2, to be progressively advanced along the inclined chute as the preceding rivets are released therefrom by the escapement mechanism. In operation, the rivets introduced indiscriminately into the hopper 5| through an openin 51 in the stationary end member 55 are oriented and discharged into the feed chute 44, as described. The feeding device is supported from the bracket I 4 by an intermediate bracket 58. The upper end of the feed chute is supported in operative engagement with the feeding device 1-8 and the lower end is supported by a depending bracket 59 attached to the machine frame.

As herein shown the feed chute 44 includes a pair of spaced rails 69, 62 between which the rivets are supported with the heads of the rivets eating arm 22.

straddled across the upper surfaces of the rails, the foremost rivet in the line coming to rest against a portion of the escapement mechanism 48. The feed chute is arranged to terminate adjacent the receiving end of the holder 26 and in alignment with an inclined portion 69 thereof having a guiding surface co-extensive with the guideway in the feed chute 44. The two half sections of the holder 26 are spaced apart at thereceiving end as shown in Fig. 1, to provide clearance for the shank of the rivet, the released rivet passing down the inclined chute and coming to rest in an upright position in the holder.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, the escapement mechanism 48 comprises a shiftable U-shaped bracket 65' having an upper portion 64 extended transversely across the top of the inclined feed chute and arranged to be slidably received in a grooved portion of the supporting bracket 59, and having depending: and inwardly extended escapement portions '66, 68 arranged to extend across the bottom of the feed chute and; into the path of the rivets supported therein. The escapement portions 66, 68 are arranged at different levels so that, in operation, when the bracket is shifted in one direction, the upper portion 65 is withdrawn to permit the foremost rivet to drop onto the lower portion 68 extended into the path of the rivet. When the escapement bracket is moved in the opposite direction, the lower portion 68 is withdrawn. andthe rivet is forcibly projected down the feed chute and into the holder by the inclined under surface of the upper portion 6t, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The transverse movement of the escapement bracket is limited by engagement of the dependin portions of the bracket with the sides of the feed chute, and, in practice, the bracket is arranged to be shifted with a snap action so as to apply sufiicient momentum to the rivet when released to cause the rivet to swing around from its inclined position in the chute into a vertical position in the-holder.

As herein illustrated, the operating connections 59 for eifecting shifting of the escapement bracket 65- include a rocker lever 51 pivotally mounted on a stud 16 fast in the bracket 58, the lever having one arm 72 arranged to carry a yield'ably mounted releasing lever 14 for cooperation with a hooked portion '25 of the escapement bracket 65, and having a second arm 76 provided with a cam surface it at its upper end arranged to cooperate with a roller 89 carried on an eccentric portion 8! of a stud 82 fast in the driver recipro- The rocker lever 57 is normally urged in a clockwise direction viewing Fig. l, by a coil spring 84 connected to a spring stud 86 a justably mounted in the lower end of the arm 12. The releasing lever '!4 is pivotally mounted to the arm 12 on a pin 73 and is yieldingly urged in a clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 1, by a leaf spring 88 carried by the lever 51, the lever being limited in its movement in this direction by engagement with the extended end of the adjustable stud Bfi. The lever 14 is thus positively rocked in one direction and is yieldingly engaged with the escapement bracket 65when moved in the other direction, the yieldable connection being provided to permit a snap action when operated to move the bracket 65 to the left. The stud 86 may be adjusted to limit the movement of thelever 14 to conform substantially to the movement of the bracket 65.

With this construction it will be seen that in the operation of the device, when the driver re ciprocating arm 22 is rocked downwardly to cause descent of the driver it, the roller 83 bearing against the flat upper surface of the cam face 18, will effect counter-clockwise rocking of the lever 61, as shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 1, to cause the escapement bracket to move to the right viewing Fig. 1, and to permit the foremost rivet in the line to drop down onto the lower portion 68 of the escapement mechanism. The curved sur face 90 of the cam face i arranged on a radius from the center of the pivot stud 263 extending to the roller 80 so that the lever 57 willremain stationary during continued downward movement of thelarm 22 after the roller 85 passes over the corner of the cam face 18. Conversely, when the driver reciprocating arm 22 is rocked upwardly to elevate the driver, the escapement bracket 65 is not permitted initially to move to the left under the influence of the coil spring- 8 the roller later passing over the corner edge of the cam face to permit a quick snap action just as the roller 80 arrives at its point of maximum elevation. Thus it will be seen that the disposition of the roller 80 in its upwardly rocked position determines the time in the cycle of operation when a rivet will be released into the holder to provide a rivet for the succeeding cycle of operation, and, in the event the parts are not properly positioned when initially assembled, a rivet might be prematurely released before the holder has arrived in alignment with the feed chute so that the rivet will fall out of the chute, or, the prematurely released rivet may engage the end of the driver Hi before it has been elevated out of the holder socket thus retarding the momentum of the rivet and preventing the same from entering the holder in an upright position.

In order to avoid these difiiculties and to assure release of the rivet at the proper time in the cycle, the eccentric stud 82 may be adjusted in the arm 22 to change the relative position of the roller 88 with respect to the cam surface 18. The stud 82 may be provided with a hexagonal portion 94 for convenience in adjusting the stud to raise or lower the position of engagement of the roller with the cam surface, and, the stud may be locked in its adjusted position by a nut 96.

From the above description it will be seen that the present rivet setting machine is capable of adjustment in a simple and elficient manner to effect release of a rivet from the feed chute at a predetermined time in the cycle of operation of the machine whereby to compensate for slight inaccuracies in the manufacture of the parts and also effecting substantial economies in the assembly operation wherein expensive hand tooling and fitting may be entirely eliminated.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other form within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a rivet setting machine having a frame, a rocker arm pivotally mounted upon said frame and a vertically reciprocal driver operatively connected to said rocker arm, a holder for supporting a rivet in alignment with the driver, a feed chute containing a supply of rivets, an escapement mechanism associated with said feed chute, cooperating elements operatively interposed between the rocker arm and the escapement mechanism for effecting release of a rivet from the feed chute into said holder substantially at 6 the end of the elevating stroke of the rocker arm and the driver to provide a rivet for a succeeding cycle of operation,"said cooperating elements including a pivotally mounted cam arm on said frame having an obtuse angled cam face at its upper terminal end, the top surface of said cam face being inclined downwardlytoward the pivot of said lever, a coope'rating cam contacting roller carried by the rocker arm, and a pivotally mounted lever carried by said cam arm'and having its free end engaged with said escapement mechanism and resiliently urged in a direction away from said escapement'mechanism, the pivot for the lever being disposed a substantial distance above the escapement mechanism, said mechanism effecting the aforesaid releasing movement with a I fast snap action.

2. In a rivet setting machine having a frame, a rocker arm pivotally mounted upon said frame and a vertically reciprocal driver operatively connected to said rocker arm, a holder for supporting a rivet in alignment with the driver, a feed chute containing a supply of rivets, an escapement mechanism associated with said feed chute, cooperating elements operatively interposed between the rocker arm and the escapement mechanism for effecting release of a rivet from the feed chute into said holder substantially at the end of the elevating stroke of the rocker arm and the driver to provide a rivet for a succeeding cycle of operation, said cooperating elements including a pivotally mounted cam arm on said frame having an obtuse angled cam face at its upper terminal end the top surface of said cam face being inclined downwardly toward the pivot of said lever, a cooperating cam contacting roller carried by the rocker arm, and a pivotally mounted lever carried by said cam arm and having its free end engaged with said escapement mechanism and resiliently urged away from said escapement, the pivot for the lever being disposed a substantial distance above the escapement mechanism; said mechanism effecting the aforesaid releasing movement with a fast snap action, and an adjustable mounting for said roller for changing the relative position of the roller with respect to said cam face whereby to vary the time of release of a rivet relative to the movement of the driver.

3. In a rivet setting machine having a frame, a rocker arm pivotally mounted upon said frame and a vertically reciprocal driver operatively connected to said rocker arm, a holder for supporting a rivet in alignment with the driver, a feed chute containing a supply of rivets, said holder being movable with the driver during the rivet setting operation and normally disposed in an elevated position to receive a rivet released from said feed chute, an escapement mechanism associated with the feed chute, cooperating elements operatively interposed between the rocker arm and the escapement mechanism for effecting release of a rivet from the feed chute into said holder substantially at the end of the elevating stroke of the rocker arm and the driver to provide a rivet for a succeeding cycle of operation, and means for adjusting one of said cooperating elements to vary the time of release of a rivet relative to the movement of the driver whereby to assure return of the holder to its elevated position and elevation of the driver out of engagement with the holder prior to release of a rivet, said cooperating elements including a pivotally mounted releasing arm on said frame having an obtu e ar g lxa iv cam iace at its upper terminal end the, toprsurviace of saidcam face being inclined downwardly toward the. pivot of said lever, acooperating cam contacting roller carried by the rocker arm, and a pivotally and yieldingly mounted lever carried by said releasing arm and having its free end engaged with said escapement mechanism and resiliently urged in a direction away from said escapement mechanism, the pivot for the lever being disposed a substantial distance above the escapement mechanism, said escapement mechanism including a member having an inclined surface engageable with the rivet whereby the rivet is forcibly projected down the feed chute into the holder 15 1,798,970

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 436,447 Ubehend Sept. 16, 1890 937,150 Havener Oct. 19, 1909 1,157,743 White Oct. 26, 1915 Clark Mar. 31, 1931 

